How to Apply

Admission Process for Graduate Students

All policies and regulations of the Graduate School govern acceptance or rejection of graduate applicants.

Step 1: Begin by researching faculty members who do research in areas of interest to you. This is where you can view all faculty profiles. Reach out to these faculty members with whom you would be interested in studying. In order to be accepted into our graduate program, you must have a faculty member who agrees to serve as your major professor and provide funding if applicable. You cannot be accepted without finding a major professor in advance! In addition, you must have funding lined up. You must either receive funding from your major professor in the form of a graduate assistantship or already have an outside funding source, such as from your home country, fellowship from an independent entity, etc.

Timeline: Varies; depends upon your own proactivity and the timely responses from faculty members

Step 2: Submit your application to the Graduate School. A complete application packet includes:

• Online application
• Statement of purpose
• 4-year baccalaureate degree or equivalent with GPA of 3.0 or higher on last 90 quarter credit or 60 semester credit hours
• 3 letters of recommendation
• TOEFL or IELTS scores for international applicants (review requirements here)
• Financial documentation for international applicants (review requirements here)

**We used to require the GRE (40th percentile average), but this was suspended during COVID. However, in some instances, your major professor might request that you take the GRE anyway, so check with them for their preference.

Timeline: Varies; allow your references about 1 month to submit their letters of reference

Step 3: If a faculty member has agreed to serve as your major professor, then your application will be reviewed for completion and minimum requirements.

Timeline: Varies; depends on major professor

Step 4: The Graduate Program Coordinator will submit the final application decision to the OSU Graduate School. Students will hear from the OSU Graduate School (not directly from the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences) whether they have been accepted to study in the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences.

Timeline: Varies; depends on OSU Graduate School

REMINDER: In order to be accepted into our graduate program, you must have a faculty member who agrees to serve as your major professor and provide funding if applicable. If no faculty member is willing to serve as your major professor, then your application will be rejected. You cannot be accepted without seeking out and securing a major professor in advance!

Graduate Assistantships

A limited number of state-supported Graduate Assistantships (GAs) are available to qualified candidates. Qualifications are based upon academic proficiency, appropriateness of background training, and interest for research in specific areas of department involvement. The stipend varies with the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) (0.30 to 0.49) assigned to GAs. Graduate Assistantships are exempt from tuition charges (students receive a tuition fee remission to their student account for the amount of the tuition charged), but students are still required to pay the mandatory university fees for each term.

GAs are responsible for 12 to 19.5 hours of work per week (for the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences) under the direction of their major professor, dependent upon the FTE of their assistantship. All state-funded GAs in our department have a 0.30 FTE (12 hours per week) service component in their position description. Students receiving a 0.49 FTE stipend from a GA, scholarship, or combination of the two are expected to be working full time toward their degree (classes, research, or both). Therefore, such students are prohibited from having any other employment during the calendar year, including summers. Failure to adhere to this policy may be grounds for termination of the stipend. Although the FTE and the number of hours you are expected to work may fluctuate slightly, you cannot work more than 255 hours per term in all jobs within the Oregon University System when appointed as a graduate student. The HRIS system tracks the number of hours for which a particular student receives pay each month; for 0.49 FTE the total must be limited to less than 84.93 hours per month. Some faculty expect their students to take classes or to be engaged in research full time while others expect their students to be engaged full time in classes and research simultaneously. Students receiving less than a 0.49 FTE stipend should consult with their advisors before seeking outside employment. Although exceptions can be made, the department's policy limits assistantship support to two years for M.S. students. In order for a GA to be extended beyond two years for the M.S., regardless of funding source, the graduate student must have at least one manuscript submitted to a journal.